04.13.

11

The Book of Esther

―Go, gather together all the Jews who are in Susa, and fast for me….I and
my attendants will fast as you do. When this is done, I will go to the king,
even though i t i s against the l aw . And i f I peri sh, I peri sh.‖

The Book of Esther – General Info, Date, Authorship, and Original Audience:
As with the book of Ruth, Esther is a novella and it appears among the Writings in the Hebrew Bible, but in the Septuagint it was placed
with the historical books. With a marvelous display of wit and irony, and with obvious literary skill, the author tells the story of how Jews in
the Persian Empire were saved from genocide by the actions of an orphaned Jewish girl, Esther,
The Divisions with the Tanakh:
who became the queen of Persia. She was assisted in this by Mordecai, her older cousin and
The name is an acronym formed
guardian. Together, they saved their people from a plot to annihilate the Jews instigated by a
from the initial Hebrew letters of
member of the royal court, Haman, a non-Persian himself – an Amalekite decedent who carried
the three traditional subdivisions:
with him their ancient hatred for God’s people. It also explains how a special festival, called  The Torah ("The Teaching" or
Purim, was established to recall and celebrate the deliverance that the Jews had experienced. ‖The Law‖, also known as The
Five Books of Moses)
Esther was written anonymously so it cannot be dated by the years of its author. However, it  Nevi'im ("The Prophets")
matches well the time period in which it is set (the reign of Ahasuerus – better known by his Greek  Ketuvim ("The Writings")
name, Xerxes I, 486–464 b.c.); hence it is probably from this time or soon thereafter. …hence TaNaKh

Question – The canonicity of Esther has often been questioned or rejected through Hebrew and Christian history. Why?

In the Tanakh, the Hebrew Bible, the book of Esther finds itself placed in The Writings, the third and final portion of their canon.
Traditionally, the five shortest books in The Writings – Song of Songs, Ruth, Lamentation, Ecclesiastes, and Esther – were/are referred to as
―The Scrolls‖ and were/are read during the five major festivals – Passover (Song of Songs), the Feast of Weeks (Ruth), the Ninth of Ab
(Lamentations), the Feast of Tabernacles (Ecclesiastes), and the Festival of Purim (Esther).
The Five Festal Garments:
The word Purim is derived from the Persian word pur, which means ―lot‖ (9:26) and recalls how  Song of Songs – Passover
 The Feast of Weeks – Ruth
Haman, the enemy of the Jews, cast lots to determine the best day to carry out his plan to
 The Ninth of Ab – Lamentations
exterminate them (3:7). As its content makes clear, Esther was written to explain the origin of the
 The Feast of Tabernacles –
Feast of Purim, and to ensure that it would be observed by all future generations of the Jewish
Ecclesiastes
people (9:28). It is also clear that it has achieved this purpose, since Jews have continued to  The Festival of Purim - Esther
observe Purim to the present day, with the book of Esther being read as part of the festivities. Of
all the Jewish festivals, Purim is the most secular in flavor, and one of the most joyful. These days it is
normally celebrated on only one day, the fourteenth of Adar (in February/March), preceded by a day of fasting. 1

Long before Esther's time, the people of Israel and Judah (later called Jews) had been dispersed throughout the Near East by the
Assyrians and the Babylonians. Eventually the Persians absorbed nearly all of these lands into their empire, which reached its greatest
extent during the time of Esther (see map below). Thus Haman's plot to exterminate all Jews throughout the Persian Empire would have
annihilated virtually all of the Jewish people, and Esther's daring actions saved them from complete destruction.

Chronology of Ezra, Nehemiah,

and Esther:

Ezra 1–6 537–515 b.c.

Esther 483-472 b.c.
Ezra 7–Nehemiah 13 458–433 b.c.

Notes:

1 The ESV Study Bible 2008. Crossway Bibles.

The Outline and Characters of Esther:
The story line itself is easy to follow: 2
 1:1–2:18. It begins with a lavish feast given by Xerxes and the deposal of his queen Vashti, who had refused to come and be
put on display; this leads in turn to Esther’s becoming queen.
 2:19–7:10. The basic plot of the story, with its various intrigues, unfolds in the central section, which climaxes at two private feasts
that Esther holds for Xerxes and Haman.
 8–9. The rest of the story primarily has to do with the Jewish defeat of their enemies (the holy war again) and their celebration
that eventually becomes the feast of Purim
 10. Inside this basic plot is the story of Mordecai, who represents God’s favor toward his people, so that the book concludes
with Mordecai’s exaltation to Haman’s position, where he achieved much good (shalom, 10:3) for the Jewish people (cf.
Daniel’s role the century before).

Esther is a novella – a short story. So, much of its message is meant to be understood by looking at its main characters:
1. Queen Vashti plays a small part in the story, but her refusal to submit to the requests of her drunk and belligerent husband (1:10-
12) lead to her disposal and provided the context for the ―beauty pageant‖ and choosing of Esther to be the new queen.

2. The Persian King Ahasuerus/Xerxes (mentioned by name 29x), an Eastern ruler (Persian Empire).

3. The villain Haman (48x), an Amalakite who has been elevated to the highest place in the empire, next to Xerxes himself—who is
even more arrogant than Xerxes, and full of hatred for the Jews (anti-Semitism). A descendant of Agag, king of the Amalekites,
the ancient enemies of Israel (Ex. 17:8–16). Agag was defeated by King Saul and killed by the prophet Samuel (1 Sam. 15:1–33).
The conflict between Haman and Mordecai mirrors the earlier conflict between their ancestors, Saul and Agag. Haman’s plan
to destroy the Jews (3:6) and hang Modecai on a 75ft gallow backfires on him as Esther reveals to Xerxes Haman’s plot (7:1-6).

4. The Jewish hero Mordecai (54x), a lesser court official who uncovers a plot that saves the king’s life, but whose refusal to bow to
Haman sets in motion the basic intrigue of the plot—a plan to kill all Jews in the empire, which ultimately backfires on Haman.

5. The heroine, Mordecai’s younger cousin, Hadassah, given the Persian name Esther (48x), who by winning a beauty contest
becomes Xerxes’ queen and the one responsible for unraveling Haman’s plot, thus saving the Jews from annihilation.

Question – Are Mordeccai and Esther heroes? Do you find anything questionable about their actions?

6. The Jews are intentionally spoken of with great frequency since the book is ultimately about the origin of Purim – a celebration
of Jewish survival. The term ―Jew‖ or ―Jews‖ ( – Yâhuwdiy) occurs in 2 Kings (1x), Jeremiah (9x), Ezra (7x), Nehemiah (8x),
Daniel (2x), and in Esther (40x)! But the Jews play a significant role on the story of Esther not only because how often the word is
used, the survival of the Jews against all odds becomes virtually a principle of history. Mordecai believes it (4:14), and
apparently, so does Haman’s wife (6:13).2

7. Yaweh - The book of Esther never mentions God’s name (0x), yet God clearly orchestrated all of its events. The downfall of
Vashti (1:10–22), the decision to hold an elaborate ―beauty contest‖ as a way of replacing her (2:1–18), and Mordecai's
overhearing of a plot against the king (2:19–23) all conspire to move Esther and Mordecai into positions of power before the
threat posed by Haman emerges (3:1–3). Once it does, the perfect timing of apparently fortuitous events again and again tips
the balance in favor of the Jews and against their enemies. The king's insomnia on the night before Mordecai's execution (6:1–
3), Haman's entry at the moment Xerxes is wondering how to reward Mordecai (6:6), and the king's return just when Haman is
falling on Esther's couch (7:8) all significantly affect the eventual outcome, but none is knowingly caused by any of the human
characters. Moreover, the characters themselves seem to be aware that something more than chance is shaping events.
Mordecai is sure the Jews will be delivered in some way or other and suspects that Esther has ―come to the kingdom for such a
time as this‖ (4:14). Even Haman's wife knows that if Mordecai is a Jew, then Haman is destined to fall before him (6:13), and
Esther's calling of a fast before approaching the king can hardly be anything other than an appeal for divine help (4:16). 3

Question – How can the hiddenness of God in the story of Esther encourage us? Do you relate to it?

How Esther Fits Into The Story:

In the big picture of the message of Scripture, i.e, The Story, Esther shows how God has preserved the offspring of Abraham for his
purpose of bringing blessing (redemption) to the whole world through them (Gen. 12:1-3) by raising up the Messiah. Gentile believers
are included into this messianic blessing and thus Gentile Christians own Esther and the preservation of the Jews as their story too.
Despite the efforts of their enemies, Pharaoh, Nebuchadnezzar, Haman, etc…, God’s plan to preserve and protect the Hebrew people
from their enemies (Gen. 3:3) for the sake of blessing the nations is fulfilled in Christ. The ―peace and truth‖ (9:30) brought forth by
Esther’s and Mordecai’s actions was only taste of the future peace (John 14:27) and truth (John 14:6) to come.

The Jesus Mission is the Old Testament’s running theme and purpose; i.e., the plan of God to make right and correct the wayward world.
Throughout the writings of the Old Testament we see the hope of Christ, the One appointed by God to crush evil and sufferings – to put
an end to sin and all its horrible ramifications. This plan is first revealed in Genesis 3:15 where God promises to put an end to the rebellion
and perverted-nature of sin by crushing the serpent's head through the seed of the woman. And thus begins the line of Christ, ―the seed
of promise.‖ This line (Gen. 11) can be traced to Abraham when God makes a covenant promising that through Abraham ―all the
peoples on the earth will be blessed‖ (Gen. 12:3). Esther, Mordeccai, Xerxes I, etc… are just a few of the abundance of people included
in God’s Jesus Mission.

2 Fee, G. D., & Stuart, D. K. (2002). How to read the Bible book by book : A guided tour (114–115). Grand Rapids, Mich.: Zondervan.
3 Webb, Barry (2000). Five Festal Garments. Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press.
3 The ESV Study Bible 2008. Crossway Bibles.